I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
by Kollene Macintosh
Summary: Kill the dead, fear the living. That's Janelle's motto. It kept her and her daughter alive, it gave them the opportunity to live another day. That's all either of them could ask for. It's what they desperately needed.


_The desert will be safer because things will fall apart now. No satellites, no internet, no cell phones. Communications will fail 'cause there's no one there to manage the servers. The electrical grid will collapse for the same reason. It's all gonna go to hell. And that's what they don't get. When civilization ends, it ends fast._

-Tobias; **from Fear the Walking Dead** (2015)

* * *

Janelle felt her eyes getting heavy, her breathing steadying. She tried fighting off the exhaustion she felt, but it was getting stronger with each passing second. All she really wanted, though, was stay at _least_ stay half-conscious until the end of the chapter. Janelle's daughter, Hannah, had been reading whatever books she could find around the house, hoping to get through the night. It had been a stressful day for both mother and daughter, and when night came, to duo found it impossible for them to get any sleep. But now it seems Janelle's the one starting to drift off. Hannah seemed tired, but probably not as bad as her mother.

"You okay?"

Hannah's question caused Janelle to jump, causing the young mother to blink and rub away any exhaustion in her eyes. "I'm okay," she stated. "Did you want to keep reading?"

"No," Hannah sighed. "It's getting late. We should probably get some sleep."

Nodding, Janelle felt a sense of relief wash over her. As much as she loved listening to her daughter read, after three books and most of the night ticking away, sleep was the next best thing for them. So, after blowing out the surrounding candles, Janelle and Hannah buried themselves in their sleeping bags and fell asleep.

 **-TWD-**

It was hard to say how long the two were asleep, but when Janelle woke up, slowly sitting herself up in her sleeping bag, she could see the sun was pretty high up in the sky. Which meant they blew a good portion of their day sleeping.

"Damn," Janelle whispered.

Running a hand through her tangled hair, feeling her fingers tug on the knots, the young mother tried to figure out how she and Hannah could get to their next safe spot with what little time they had left. Janelle was usually good at getting up early and planning ahead, but she wasn't doing so well lately. Which was _very_ bad, if mother and daughter wanted to keep living.

Stumbling out of her sleeping bag, Janelle quickly stretched before looking down at her daughter. A soft chuckle escaped the woman's lips. Hannah had always been a wild sleeper, always moving erratically in her sleep; but since she was confined to a sleeping bag, she had a limited amount of space to move. Regardless of that, however, Hannah's hair always came out the same — wild, frizzy, matted. It was to be expected. Walking over to where the young girl slept, Janelle gently shook her shoulder with her foot.

"Hannah, you need to get up," Janelle stated. "We're running behind schedule."

All she got was a disgruntled moan in response.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with this today." There was a firmness in the mother's voice, one Hannah knew all too well. It was Janelle's _don't-test-me_ tone. "We overslept. We need to go _now_."

"What time is it?" Hannah grumbled. She peered around the room, brushing her unruly hair out of her face.

"Late. Now get up and get ready. We're leaving in five."

Sighing, the nine-year-old got herself out of her sleeping bag, much to her annoyance. Sleep was one of her favorite things. Hannah remembered sleeping in on the weekends, enjoying how nice and warm her bed was. Nowadays, everything is so short-lived. She and her mother couldn't stay in one place long, for fear of running into the dead or the living. It wasn't fair, how the world turned out. But really, there was nothing they could do to change it.

While Hannah rolled her sleeping bag up, she glanced over at her mother. Janelle was sorting through her backpack, organizing whatever contents were inside. The one thing that hadn't been dealt with was her sleeping bag.

"Do you need help with anything?" Hannah asked.

Looking over at her daughter, Janelle gave a tight smile. "It's fine," she said. "Just get your stuff sorted out, okay? Make sure you have everything you need."

"Okay."

With that, the two went on finishing their tasks.

 **-TWD-**

It didn't take Janelle or Hannah too long to get their belongings in order. Once they were all ready to go, they were out the door and on the road again. That's how it has to be. They couldn't afford to stay in one place too long. Janelle made it clear, once things got really bad, they will only stay in one place for two days at most, and that's only when things are really bad. Not long after civilization fell, rules had to be put in place. The main was to kill the dead, since they were easy to take down. The other was to fear the living, since they still had the capacity to think and strategize, on top of manipulation.

Needless to say, because of Janelle's rules, finding and integrating with other groups rarely ever happened for them. Distinguishing between good guys and bad guys was difficult to say the least. Some were more open with their intentions, others hid it under a welcoming guise. So, for a while, Janelle and Hannah only ever had each other.

"What's the plan for today?" Hannah asked.

"We should hit some of these other houses," Janelle said, "try and find some water and medicine. We're running low on that."

"And after that?"

"Leave this neighborhood. We've stayed here too long."

Hannah nodded, shrugging her backpack higher up. The two had been staying in neighborhood in the more rural parts of Georgia. Their travels had taken them through a good portion of the state, and evidently, Hannah was a bit curious on where her and her mother would end up next.

"Will I be able to use a gun or something?" Hannah asked. "You wanted to look through the other houses; it only makes sense if I have a weapon, right?"

"You're not getting a weapon," Janelle stated.

"Mom. . .," Hannah tried.

"No. You're only nine. I don't want you hurting yourself."

"I'm gonna _have_ to learn how to use a weapon. If we're going up against a bunch of biters, you shouldn't be the only one fighting."

Janelle clenched her jaw at that. Hannah had a point. She needed to learn how to use a weapon to ensure her survival. That was _the_ most important thing. But. . .part of Janelle couldn't accept her daughter using weapons. Guns, knives, whatever, it all seemed too much for the young mother to handle. Hannah was still her baby, her little girl from before. Biters and the apocalypse took away most of the innocence the nine-year-old once possessed; it felt like weapons would strip away the rest.

"You'll learn to use a knife first," Janelle state, trying to keep her voice from trembling. An excited look came across Hannah's face. " _But_ , you'll have to follow my rules. Do you understand?"

A slight scowl came across Hannah's face. "Fine," she mumbled. "When do I start?"

"We'll work that out later." Janelle glanced down at her daughter, taking in the child's appearance. She took in Hannah's wild curls and freckled face; her big green eyes and long eyelashes. Janelle took in all the things she loved about her daughter. Looking away, she straightened her shoulders. "We'll work that out later."

* * *

 **(A/N):**

 **If you guys have any constructive criticism, don't hesitate to let me know, okay? I'd love to know how I can improve this. So yeah. Leave your thoughts and I'll take it into consideration.**

 **Do I own anything in TWD? No. No I don't. All I own are my OCs, my subplots, and the laptop I'm typing on. If you've got ideas for OCs or subplots, be sure to PM me or leave a review. I'll add them in as soon as possible.**

 **This story, in the beginning, will take place around Season 2. And if memory serves, it's in that season where the Greene family will be introduced. It's been a while since I've seen the earlier seasons, so I'll have to refresh myself on how to accurately portray them in the story. And any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated. As of right now, I'm still trying to adjust to how drastically the show's changed. Rick's officially off the show, Carl's dead, Michonne and Rick had a baby together (which is the cutest thing), everything is so different, and I'm still wrapping my head around it. I don't know. I'm just rambling.**

 **Either way, some help from you guys would be great.**

 **Leave a random fact in the reviews, if you want. It could be on something old or on something new. It's up to you guys.**

 **I'll see you later, my friends.**

 **Kollene Macintosh**


End file.
